Visiting Santa

We visited Santa at Bass Pro this year.  It went so well!  Brielle was smiling from ear to ear when it was her turn to sit on the big guy's lap.  She was more interested in smiling for the picture than telling him what she wanted for Christmas.  I guess that's because she asked for a surprise.  Bass Pro runs a pretty slick operation.  

 

Super cool animal carousel.  It was free and Brielle rode it as many times as she wanted.  She rode it several times and smiled like this every time she came around.  It was adorable.   

 



First Family Outing

We took our first family outing.  Can you guess where? 

Mr. Goodcents - Brielle's favorite!

The evening was short lived and not very pleasant, but it was a first.  There will be more, and they can only get better! 

 

Not only was it our first family outing, but it was our first outing with Grant's mustache as well.  Check out that beauty...weeks and weeks of hard work!

 



Advent Calendar Fun

December was a fun month.  The Advent Calendar ended up being a big hit!  I was glad we had this for Brielle since Carson takes up a lot of our time right now.  It was fun to have special activities or events for Brielle and us to do.  Here's our list and some pictures of the fun we had this month:

 

1 – Saturday – Christmas movie night with the whole family

2- Sunday – Make red and green play dough

3- Monday – Choose a Christmas Treat

4- Tuesday – Shop for gifts and food for kids for the Blue Springs Community Services League

5-Wednesday – Learn new Christmas jokes!  Call family members and tell them a Christmas joke!

6- Thursday – Grab some scissors and let’s make snowflakes!

 7- Friday – Go see the holiday lights with the whole family

On our way to Christmas in the Park...fake sleeping...Starbucks...FUN!

 

8- Saturday – Christmas movie night with the whole family

9- Sunday – Go to see First Christmas as a family and make ornaments to give away to friends

 

I love First Christmas!  It is beautiful and helps your remember what Christmas is all about.

10-Monday – Make sugar cookies and cupcakes with Mom – share them with friends, dance teachers, and neighbors

 

11-Tuesday – Choose a Christmas Treat

12-Wednesday – Learn about traditions in a different culture

13-Thursday – Write a letter to Santa - Brielle's Letter:

Dear Santu,

I want u spris.  i dno.

Brielle

:)

14-Friday – Go see Santa at Bass Pro Shop (pics in a different post)

15- Saturday – Family game night with hot cocoa and a fire

16-Sunday – Christmas movie night with the whole family

17-Monday – Choose a Christmas Treat

18-Tuesday – Make a Christmas craft with Mom

19-Wednesday – Sort through old toys and take them to a homeless shelter

20-Thursday – Make Christmas cards for teachers

21-Friday – Deliver teacher presents and eat a special lunch with the whole family

22- Saturday – Ride on the Polar Express

23-Sunday – Wear new jammies to bed and make a gingerbread house

24-Monday – Make goodies for Santa and the Reindeer with Dad

-        Read the story about the birth of Jesus

-  Read The Night Before Christmas



1 Month

Carson hit the 1 month mark on December 10th.  He is the sweetest little blessing in the world! 

 

During the last month Carson:

-Grew and grew and grew! At 2 weeks, he was 10 pounds, 14 ounces and 23 inches long.

-Gave us his first awake smile a few days after his 1 month birthday.  We are seeing more and more of this amazing smile!  We can't wait to capture it on camera.

-Saw the chiropractor because he just didn't seem comfortable at all...poor guy.  It appears to have helped, but it's still early.

-Continues to amaze us with his strength.  He whips his head around from side to side and pulls himself up to see what's going on.  If he doesn't want you to lift his legs, he uses his brute strength to force them where he wants them.  This is the same with his arms, so changing clothes and changing his diaper can be a challenge at times. 

-Grunts and grunts all day!  He is quite the grunter and nuzzler.  We hear a few coos and ahhs now and then, but his main form of communication is the grunt.  ha!

-Still has uncontrollable hair!  I can't seem to tame that head of hair.  He hasn't lost much, but he now has a receding hair line since his head is growing.  His hair still naturally forms a mohawk.  I hope I learn how to manage his long locks before long.

-Loves his bath.  He doesn't love every moment of his bath, but for the most part he is super relaxed and chill in the tub.  This is nice, since most of the time he is on the go (well as much as a 1 month old can be).   

 

Here's our big 1 month old!  Look at those adorable chunky thighs! 

We love you Carson!



Snow Day

So I feel like I've been on an extended snow day since Carson was born, but we had a legitimate snow day last week.  Brielle loved it!  Thank goodness Grant works from home, because braved the frigid weather.  He took Brielle sledding (AKA dragging Brielle around the backyard), they tried to make a snowman (snow was not good for packing), and he made her hot cocoa.  Hopefully, we'll get a little more snow before winter is over.

 



It's Getting Colder

It's starting to get a lot colder around here.  In fact, the scooter needs to wear the proper attire.  Check out Brielle's outfit (typical day).  Man...it's great to be 4!  Life is good!

 



4-Year Old Karaoke

Brielle went to her first birthday karaoke party.  I didn't get to watch this joyful occasion, but Grant had the time of this life!  There was cake, candy, and lots of 4 and 5 year old singing.  Grant said that Brielle was the loudest singer at the party, which surprised us both.  At first she was a bit shy, but then had the guts to sing two songs with her friends.  I would NEVER do that.  ha!  All of the kids were supposed to dress like their favorite singer.  Brielle chose Kiki from the Fresh Beat Band.  Then at the last minute she decided to dress like her own made-up rock star. Fun times were had by all!

 



Photo Shoot

Who could resist a little photo shoot with this cutie?  I love this onsie and adorable hat!  Luckily, I caught Carson in a chill mood.

 

 

Confession:  We like to interupt Grant while he's working...luckily I have the cute guy with me or I don't think he would be smiling.  :) 



Dance Watch Week

Brielle was pumped for her watch week at dance class.  Grandma and Papa came to watch her moves.  I heard she put on quite a performance.  Luckily, Grant captured it on video for me.  Enjoy!

 



Conversation of the Day

Brielle - Did you think having a baby would be this hard?

Me - It's not so bad (that's what I said out loud, but not what I thought in my head).  Did you think having a baby would be this hard?

Brielle - No.  My babies are really easy.

 

I promise Carson will get a happier and more playful Brielle! 

We just have to be patient!  :)

Christmas Countdown

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! 

Christmas tree - check

lights outside - check

stockings hung - check

Christmas countdown calendar - check

 

This is the newest addition to our home this year.  Each day there is a new activity for Brielle to discover and do.  It's been a great hit!  She is giddy as she walks past her calendar before bed and is super excited for the next day.  So far we have had family Christmas movie night, made red and green play dough, opened a Christmas surprise, and bought toys and food for the Blue Springs Community Service League.  

 

We can't wait for Day 5! 

 

Sweet Faces

I couldn't resist posting these sweet faces!  

 

No more pics mom!



Could she be any cuter?

Uncle Jake and Aunt Samantha

Uncle Jake and Aunt Samantha came to visit the day after Thanksgiving.  They made the weekend all about Brielle and it was great!  We have been used to going everywhere and doing anything we want with Brielle.  However, we have been in the house for days on end and can't really go out since bringing Carson home.  So when Uncle Jake and Aunt Samantha came to visit, Brielle had the time of her life!  They took her to get a manicure and pedicure, watched a princess movie, built forts, played Barbies, took her shopping at Toys R Us, played football, raked a leaf pile, and much more!  It was a dream weekend for Brielle and gave Grant and I a little quiet time with Carson.  Thanks for spending the weekend with us!  We love you!

 



Movie Night

Our TV watching has increased since having Carson around.  Brielle is not complaining!  We made fun movie night necklaces that were edible.  Sophia the First was a BIG movie night hit!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was fantastic and we have a lot to be thankful for!  We started the day by making our Thankful Tree.  We all wrote down what we were thankful for and tied the leaves to the tree.  It was really fun and delightful to watch Brielle get into the project and come up with so many things to be thankful for.  Our leaves included Mommy, Daddy, Brielle, Carson, Grandma, Papa, Grandma Carolyn, G, all of our aunts and uncles, food, nice weather, toys, the abc's, Mizzou, Royals, and the list goes on!  We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade (one of my favorite traditions).  Grant ordered our Thanksgiving dinner from HyVee and it was delicious!  I highly recommend it!  We didn't even have to shower or get out of our pajamas on Thanksgiving.  I'm pretty sure I want to do this every year.

 

I really liked how Brielle wrote her own leaves and sounded most of the words out herself.  Way to go Brielle! 

 

Brielle made this Christmas necklace. 

Thanks Ashley and Paxton for a great big sister gift! 

 

Brielle did lots of hair on Thanksgiving.  By fixing hair I mean getting every product I own and spraying and/or wiping it on our heads.  By the end of the day we looked like we were wearing helmets.  It also took at least three baths to get all of the product out of her hair.  Good times!  Not so good looks!   

 

Check out that helmet.  Now check out Carson's mohawk.  Carson got a bath and his hair naturally lends itself to a mohawk right now.  Pretty cute if I do say so myself! 

 

We are thankful for so much this year!  Happy Thanksgiving!